Flashing light beacons are among the most widely used temporary warning devices used to alert the public to the presence of traffic accidents, road and navigational hazards and other physical situations where some degree of caution by the public may be required. These beacons are typically provided with a power source, such as a storage battery, a light source and means for intermittently interrupting the flow of energizing current to the light source. For the light source, many of these beacons use a xenon gas filled light bulb of the type widely used in photographic applications to provide short, intense flashes of light. When the xenon gas pressure is fairly low, such bulbs emit bluish white light when energized. With a higher integral gas pressure, a white light resembling daylight is emitted. At night and even in daylight, the flashing of higher gas pressure lights can be easily observed from distances sufficient to give an observer ample warning to avoid such hazards. Present state-of-the-art beacons are not usually hand held because of the weight of the storage battery and the configuration of the lighting assembly, including the base.
Commercially available beacons are presently provided with discrete on-off switches which, unless the electrical connections are protected against adverse environmental effects, tend to corrode over time. Such corrosion will eventually result in a mechanical or electrical failure of the switch. This can occur even if the switch connections are routinely cleaned and ultimately require replacement. However, experience has shown that routine cleaning is not the norm and corroded connections to these on-off switches are not usually detected until they fail in service. In many circumstances, such a failure can result in serious potential consequences.